title: Detecting awareness after severe brain injury.
abstract: Recent developments in functional neuroimaging have provided a number of new tools for assessing patients who clinically appear to be in a vegetative state. These techniques have been able to reveal awareness and even allow rudimentary communication in some patients who remain entirely behaviourally non-responsive. The implications of these results extend well beyond the immediate clinical and scientific findings to influencing legal proceedings, raising new ethical questions about the withdrawal of nutrition and hydration and providing new options for patients and families in that decision-making process. The findings have also motivated significant public discourse about the role of neuroscience research in society.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, The Brain and Mind Institute, The Natural Sciences Centre, Western University, London, Ontario, N6A 5B7, Canada.
authors.forename: Davinia
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fernández-Espejo
authors.forename: Adrian M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Owen
mesh_terms: D001364:Awareness / Q000502:physiology*; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000639:trends; D059906:Neuroimaging / Q000639:trends*; D018458:Persistent Vegetative State / Q000175:diagnosis; D015995:Prevalence